bed rot
English
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Audio (US): (file)
Verb
bed rot (third-person singular simple present bed rots, present participle bed rotting, simple past and past participle bed rotted)
- (Internet slang) To lie in bed without engaging in activities, especially as a form of self-care (either adaptive or maladaptive).
- 2023 June 9, Martha Alexander, “Is ‘bed rotting’ the new goblin mode in 2023?”, in The Standard[1], archived from the original on 11 March 2024:
- You are quite capable of coping with the world — you’re not hiding from responsibility or commitments — but you don’t fancy it right now and have nothing to prove to anyone. You can bed rot for hours, days, or even a full weekend.
- 2023 October 23, Samantha Kubota, “What is bed rotting, and is it good for you? What to know about the Gen Z trend”, in Today[2], archived from the original on 25 February 2024:
- The experts said that it’s OK to bed rot as long as you take some precautions to protect your mental and physical health.
- 2024 June 14, Katie Walsh, “NOW PLAYING Reviews of movies showing in theaters or streaming online”, in Orlando Sentinel, ‘I Used To Be Funny’, page C.2:
- Sam (Rachel Sennott) is depressed. Dissociative and disconnected, she spends her days bed-rotting, microwaving lunch meat and searching her name on Twitter.
Noun
- (Internet slang) The act of bed rotting; the state or condition of one who rots in bed.
- [2023 June 11, “New ‘bed rotting’ is evolution, baby”, in Herald on Sunday, Auckland, page A.34:
- “Bed rotting” is the act of doing essentially anything, but in the comfort of your bed, and for an extended period of time (we’re talking hours, if not days). A “bed rot” day is a day spent in bed, not necessarily napping but doing whatever feels right — watching movies, reading, scrolling social media, performing a 37-step skincare routine ... whatever your heart desires.]
- 2023 July 8, Bruce Y. Lee, “‘Bed Rotting’: What Is This New TikTok Generation Z Self-Care Trend”, in Forbes[3]:
- Problems emerge, of course, when you do the bed rot excessively. […] Another problem is when you are doing the bed rot to avoid doing something.
- 2024 November 10, “Is hurkle-durkling 2024’s answer to bed-rotting?”, in Herald Sun, Melbourne, page 6:
- Don’t hurkle-durkle your way into bed-rot territory. Enjoying the comfort of your bed to read a few chapters of your book is one thing, but lazing about watching repeats of Sex and the City for six hours straight is less self-care and more self-sabotage.
- 2024 December 23, Samantha Downes, “Warning issued over Christmas ‘bed rot’ and the very uncomfortable side effect”, in Express[4]:
- At least four in ten of Brits have indulged in a day of so-called 'bed rotting’ in the last month, and another 15 per cent admitted they do a 'bed rot' at least once a week.
- 2025 December 2, Raven Beckett, “The Viral Journey: How Sanai Graden Leveraged 30M Views And Berkeley Discipline To Launch Aira”, in Girls United[5]:
- Sanai Graden set out for a quick grocery run to shake off the day’s “bed rot” and somehow came back with groceries in one hand and over thirty million TikTok viewers in the other.